


Be My Future

by Chalichi



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunken sex, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-18 19:18:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10623426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chalichi/pseuds/Chalichi
Summary: After Jesus and Alex had broken up (again) Jesus makes Daryl go with him to a bar.The next morning Daryl wakes up to a little surprise.(I seriously suck at summaries)





	1. So... This happened

**Author's Note:**

> This story's been laying around for a while, and now I've decided to actually post it. 
> 
> It's just funny love story I wrote to entertain myself when I was feeling down. 
> 
> The story is finished and I will post the next chapter in a few days! 
> 
> I really hope you'll like it! 
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!

* * *

 

Jesus barged in through Daryl's front door in a rage fit. He'd done it many times before in the six months they'd been friends. So Daryl didn't think much of it, and just watched the guy from where he sat in his armchair with his computer resting on his lap.

Jesus threw himself on the couch with a heavy sigh and looked irritated.  
He sighed again, trying to get Daryl's attention to him.

Daryl rolled his eyes and looked over at the irritated guy.  
“What's wrong?” He asked.

Jesus sighed again and glared at his phone in his hand.  
“Alex” he muttered out.

“Figures” Daryl breathed out, returning his attention back the the computer screen again.

“He's so freaking annoying!” Jesus told him.  
“We got into a big argument today over some pictures!”

“Might just be that he argued with you about those pictures because they're clearly visible on Instagram, and you're making out with Rick on one of them.” Daryl said with a glance at his friend.

Jesus pouted at him, which made Daryl chuckle a little and returned to the article he was trying to write.

“It was a stupid drunken thing, Alex should know that!” Jesus said, still pouting.  
“Rick is straight, and together with Michonne!  
Rick didn't get yelled at, Michonne just laughed.”

Daryl rolled his eyes again and sighed at Jesus stupid comment.  
“Yes, Rick is straight, but do I have to remind you that Alex isn't and that he maybe didn't see the funny thing in it?” He asked, looking directly at the man.

He earned himself a glare from the other man for that.  
“You're on Alex's side or something?”

“I'm not.” Daryl chuckled, looking back at the computer again.  
“I'm just telling you why Alex might be bitching about this. Give him some time to cool off and talk to him later. I'm sure he'll forgive ya.  
You two always make up in the end.”

Jesus hummed and looked down at his phone again.  
“I'm not so sure about that. He looked really pissed this time.” He murmured.

“Just give him some time.” Daryl said.  
“He'll come around.”

Daryl glanced at Jesus from the computer screen, finding the screen hard to focus on when Jesus was sitting on his couch.  
He studied his face, his phone casting a slight glow on it from whatever site he was browsing on.

He'd been crushing on the man since the day they'd really started to hit it off as friends, which was about a month after they'd met.  
He hadn't said anything to anyone, just pushing his feelings down and focusing on being a good friend instead. He'd listened to Jesus constant complaining about his and Alex relationship when they'd broken up as well as detailed information about their sex life when they were good.  
The latter conversations always made his blood boil with jealousy, but being the good friend he was, he pushed it down and tried not to let his jealousy show.

Jesus tossed his phone away with a groan, making Daryl focus solely on the man now laying on his couch and looking miserable.

“What's wrong?” Daryl asked.

“Alex have changed his relationship status from in a relationship to single on Facebook.” He answered, dragging. His hands over his face in frustration.

“He'd only did that to mess with ya.” Daryl said, trying to comfort him.

“No.” Jesus said, letting his hands fall down to the couch by his head.  
“It's over this time, I can feel it.”  
He groaned again, making him sound a little like a fussy teenager.

“I want to go out for drinks!” Jesus said after a few minutes of silence.  
“I think it might be good for me.”

Daryl turned his eyes at the younger man and raised his brows.  
“I'm not so sure about that, might do more harm than good.”

Jesus sat up fully on the couch and picked his phone up.  
“I think it will be good for me! And It might be good for you too, to get out a little.”

Daryl knew that he'd been blowing his friends off more often than not because of his job, and he really missed hanging out with them, but he didn't want to participate in some revenge mission with Jesus.

“Come on! You might meet someone to hook up with!” Jesus pressed.

Daryl clenched his teeth and shook his head, thinking that the only one he really wanted to hook up with was standing in the very room.

“Not really interested.” He settled on saying instead.

“Come on! If you sit here cooped up all the time you'll turn into a grumpy old man!” Jesus teased, leaning in closer towards Daryl, who scoffed and glared at the other man.  
“Oh no! It's already happening!” Jesus laughed.  
  
Daryl rolled his eyes at the younger man again and turned his attention back on the computer screen.  
“I really have to write this paper.” He muttered.  
  
Jesus sighed and dropped down on the couch again.  
“Why can't you just take one measly day off for my sake?” He whined, really pulling off the whole messy teenager ordeal.  
“Come on, spend some time with your heartbroken friend.”  
  
“Yea, ya really look heartbroken.” Daryl huffed out sarcastically.  
“Besides, it's all temporary. You guys will be back together by the end of next week.”

  
Jesus sat up on the couch, sporting a deep frown.  
“Maybe I don't want to get back together with him.” He said then.

Daryl stopped typing and looked at Jesus with wide eyes.  
“What do ya mean?” He asked.  
  
“I mean, I've had enough of Alex jealousy.” Jesus said, casting his eyes down to his phone, picking a little at a loose piece on the phone case.  
“I think that I might enjoy being single. I don't know if I even have any feelings left for Alex.”

Daryl's heart did a flip in his chest at the younger mans words. Maybe he had a chance? Well, not right away of course, but there might be a sliver of a chance for him!

Jesus looked up at Daryl making puppy dog eyes at him, making him look impossibly cuter than he already was.  
“Would you please go with me to a bar?” He asked sweetly. Daryl groaned inwardly knowing that he'd lost.

He sighed deeply and stood up.  
“Fine! But we're leaving early!” He said.

Jesus jumped up off the couch with a beaming smile that lit his entire face up and made him look even more beautiful than before.

~~~*~~~

Daryl woke up with his head feeling like it would split into a million of peaces. The bright rays of the sun that were shining in from his bedroom window made his head pound even harsher. He clamped his eyes shut and groaned.  
His mouth felt like a dessert had invaded it sometime throughout the night.  
He moved out of the warmth of his bed slowly, really craving a glass of water.

He stumbled out of his bedroom on unsteady feet, shielding his eyes from the blinding light of the sun as he padded to his destination.  
He grabbed a bottle of water from his refrigerator, opened it and drained half of the bottle in one go.  
Then he walked over to the bathroom, opened his medicine cabinet and grabbed two painkillers, swallowing them down with the rest of the water in the bottle.

He stood there by the sink in his bathroom for a while, cradling his head in his hands, fearing it would split into two by the hammering pain inside of it.  
Why the hell had he let Jesus drag him away? And why the hell hadn't he hold his guard and gone home early as he'd said he would?

He drew in a deep breath and walked out from the bathroom again, still shielding his eyes from the way too bright sunlight that blared into his living room.  
As he walked sluggishly over to his bedroom he he tripped over something that was laying scattered on the floor by his couch.  
He catched himself quickly on the coffee table before he landed face first on the hard floor and turned his head to look at what had tripped him over.

It was one of Jesus shoes.  
Why the hell did he have one of Jesus shoes in his living room?  
He kept looking around in the living room and found more clothes laying scattered across his living room, all items tossed carelessly in a trail from the front door to his bedroom.  
It wasn't just Jesus clothes he noticed, it was his too.

He looked down at himself and noticed for the first time since waking up that he was buck naked! Why was he naked?! What the fuck had happened last night?!  
And why did he have Jesus clothes in his apartment but no Jesus?!

As the last thought went through his mind the door to his bedroom flung open and an equally naked and unbelievably pale looking Jesus walked out from the room and all but ran towards the bathroom.  
As he watched Jesus enter the bathroom he couldn't help to wonder how the fuck he'd missed the other man when he'd gotten out of bed that morning!

He found his underwear and put them on as he heard muffled retching coming from the bathroom.  
He walked over and tapped softly on the door, waiting for a response before he asked if everything was okay.  
He heard the toilet flush and water running in the sink. Then the bathroom door opened and he stepped away, letting the younger man walk out of the bathroom.  
He still looked like shit, his hair all over the place, his usually neat beard a tussled mess, but he didn't look as sick anymore.

”You okey?” Daryl repeated.

”My head hurts.” Jesus answered then while he rubbed his forehead with his hands.

”There's painkillers in the medicine cabinet, help yerself.” Daryl told him, feeling just slightly bad for the guy, even though he kind of hated him too at the moment.

Jesus walked back into the bathroom and took two pills and swallowed them down drinking right from the faucet.

Jesus groaned, swaying little on the place when he stood upright again. Daryl walked forward, steadying the man and walked with him out of the bathroom towards the bedroom.

As he held Jesus so tightly pressed against himself, he couldn't help to be acutely aware about the other mans lack of clothing.  
Just as little as he could help his wandering eyes over the naked mans body.  
His eyes wandered from the mans lean figure downward.  
And as his eyes reached a little to low he had to snap his gaze away when the all too familiar tightness appeared in his all to revealing boxers.  
He knew that he wouldn't be able live down the embarrassment of sporting a hardon while helping his sick friend.

"What happened last night." He asked to distract himself from his arousing feelings as he helped Jesus sit back down on the bed.

"I'm not sure." Jesus mumbled, cradling his pounding head in his hands.  
"We left together. We were quite drunk. I don't know how we got here."

Daryl sat down next to Jesus on the bed, looking down at Jesus pants laying on the floor in a heap.

"We took a cab." Daryl said, recalling how the bartender had called them a cab close to closing.  
"I remember helping you into it."

"Yeah, i remember that! You couldn't stop laughing!" Jesus said, peaking at Daryl between his fingers.

"That was because you wouldn't stop falling over all the time." Daryl huffed, recalling that too.

Daryl's head had stopped pounding for the most part, the painkillers finally setting in. He still felt sluggish and mildly nauseous though.  
He looked down at Jesus, his gaze landing on his lap and just like that he remembered that the man still was buck naked.  
How had they ended up in bed together? Had they done anything?

Daryl's stomach started twisting again, not because of the nausea, but of nervousness.

"You might want to put something on." Daryl said nodding to Jesus lap.

Jesus looked down and covered himself up with his hands immediately.  
"Shit! What? How? Why?" He stuttered looking around in the room for something to put on.

"You tell me." Daryl said, picking up the pair of pants laying on the floor.

Jesus accepted them and put them on as fast as he could.  
"Did we?" He asked.  
Daryl shrugged, not having the answer to the question.

"I'm quite curious about that myself." He said.

"Oh my god!" Jesus exclaimed, pacing around in the room with his hands digging into his hair.

Daryl watched the man walk around the room in confusion.  
Sure, he knew drunken sex was a bad thing, the both of them not being in their right minds and all. He knew that it could put a strain on their friendship too, and that was what Daryl was mostly concerned about. He didn't want to lose Jesus as a friend at all.

Sure he would mostly want to be more than friends with the guy, but by the way Jesus was currently reacting weren't speaking much for Jesus feeling the same way.  
And even if Jesus had been feeling the same, he had just broken up with his boyfriend, and Daryl wasn't looking to become a rebound.  
Which made this situation even shittier.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, getting tired of Jesus pacing and mumbling.

"What's wrong?!" Jesus all but shouted.  
"Seriously? You really have to ask me that?! I might've had drunken sex with my straight best friend!! That's what's wrong!  
I might've taken advantage of my best friends drunkenness and fucked him!!"

Daryl recoiled by Jesus outburst and opened his mouth in plain shock! His straight best friend?  
Didn't Paul know about his sexuality? Daryl could've sworn that he'd told him somewhere down the line.  
He had, hadn't he?  
He'd event told him about his abusive father for crying out loud! Then he must've told him about him being gay!?

"Paul, sit down you're making my head spin." He said grabbing Paul's wrist and almost pulled him down on the bed.

Jesus was breathing heavily and was hiding his head in his hands.  
"I'm so, so, so sorry Daryl!" Jesus said. He sounded so broken and valuable it almost broke Daryl's heart.

"You don't have to be sorry you know." Daryl told him.

"How can you say that. I took advantage of you!" He sniffed.

"You don't know that! I could've just as easily be the one taking advantage of you!" Daryl said.

Jesus looked up at him from his hands giving him a funny look.  
"What? Why?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"I don't know if I've told you this. I really thought I had to be honest, but ehh. I'm... I'm gay." He confessed.

Jesus eyebrows shot up to his hairline by his confession and his mouth fell down to his lap in shock.  
"You said what?"

"That I'm gay. I really thought I told you. But apparently not. I'm sorry." He said, looking away from Jesus tear streaked face.  
"That's why I could be the one taking advantage of you."

"Oh my god Daryl." Jesus breathed.  
"I... I don't know what to say. I just really assumed you were straight, I mean you've never had any relationships or shown any interest in anyone during the time I've known you."

"I tend to keep my private life private, that doesn't mean I've never had any relationships at all, or that I don't get interested." Daryl stated simply.

"You interested in anyone at the moment?" Jesus asked, perking up, apparently overly interested in the subject.

"I am, but he's unavailable, so it doesn't matter." Daryl grumbled, feeling uncomfortable to talk about it and got up from the bed to look around for a fresh shirt to put on.

"Who is it? Is he straight? Is it someone I know?" Jesus asked, sounding more and more enthusiastic for every question he asked.

Daryl turned around, facing Jesus again, shooting an annoyed glance at him.

"I'm not telling. It doesn't matter. Stop asking." Daryl snapped.  
What could he say? Ive been pining after you since the day I met you, but I don't want to be a rebound so I'm not even going to go there?  
Yeah, that sounded really smart!

"How are you so sure? I mean look at you! You're fucking hot!"

"Doesn't matter, there's other reasons to why it's never going to happen, so fucking drop it already!" He said, sighing deeply.

"Fine." Jesus said.  
"What are we going to do about this then?"  
Jesus asked motioning between them.

"I don't know." Daryl answered, leaning against the wall.  
"I mean, neither of us remembers anything, so for all we know nothing happened. We don't know for sure. So I say we haven't done anything, at least until we're proven otherwise."

"I guess your right. Would hate for this to screw our friendship up or anything." Jesus said, standing up from the bed.

"Yea, me too." Daryl agreed, biting nervously on his thumbnail as he watched Jesus walk out of the bedroom, to look for his clothes.

~~~*~~~

Daryl tried really hard to focus on his work assignment on the computer, but failed big time.  
Every time he started to tap out a sentence his mind raced away to when Jesus dragged him away to the bar.  
He glanced away to the the couch where Jesus had been sitting just twenty four hours prior, pouting and sad for the breakup with Alex.

He sighed and turned his attention to the computer screen once more.  
His deadline was only a week away and so far he'd gotten nowhere!  
He'd been working on a article about customized bikes for the motor sport magazine he was working on. It was his first really big article so he didn't want to screw it up, but as it was he just couldn't focus on it!

His head were just filled with Jesus and what might've happened between them.  
Had they slept together? How had it went down if they'd done it?  
Was Jesus interested in him?

So many questions that shouldn't have the impact on him that they had, because he knew they couldn't become a thing right now anyway. But his mind wasn't listening to him.  
No, his mind wanted answers damnit!

With another sigh he gave up for the day, he would try again that evening instead.

He turned his computer off and got up from the couch and started to walk away.  
Just as he'd started walking towards the kitchen his phone started vibrating in his front pocket.

He picked it up and saw Jesus name flash on the screen.  
With a raising heart he tapped at the screen and pressed the phone against his ear.  
He hadn't even said as much as an hello when he heard Jesus frantic voice in the other end.

"I need to see you! Now. Do you have time?" He said in one breath. His voice sounded shaky and were breaking like he was close to tears.

"Woah, slow down. What happened?" Daryl said, and started pacing back and forth in his kitchen.

"Alex." Jesus spat out like an explanation. "I need to see you, are you home?"

"Yea, I'm home." Daryl said.  
"What happened Paul. Tell me."

"I'm on my way." Jesus said and hung up the phone.

Daryl looked at his phone in his hand. He felt confused and scared at the same time, what had Alex done to Jesus that had gotten him that railed up?

His phone vibrated again, the screen lighting up to reveal Glenn's name.  
He unlocked the phone to read the text message his friend had sent him.

Glenn- ~ hey man, you alright? I saw a photo of you and Jesus on insta, you guys look pretty waisted. ~

Fuck! he thought.  
It wasn't that Daryl was annoyed by someone snapping pictures of him or anything, it was more of someone snapping pictures of him and putting them online without him agreeing to it.  
If his boss saw them he could get in trouble.  
He didn't have his boss on any social media, but those things had their way of getting found out anyway.

~what picture? Who took it?~ was Daryl's reply to Glenn.

While he waited for his friend to answer Daryl started pacing around in his kitchen, putting dirty dishes into the sink and wiped off two weeks worth of stains on the counter.  
He hadn't cleaned his apartment in a while, he hadn't had the time for it, being busy with either work or Jedus. Mostly Jesus.

When the dishes were put in the sink and the counter spotless he heard his front door open followed by the frantic voice of Jesus calling his name.

"I'm in the kitchen!" He shouted back and walked towards the source of the voice.

"Daryl!" Jesus said, again when he laid eyes on the other man.  
Jesus was a mess. His eyes redrimmed from what Daryl presumed was crying, his hair was it in a messy bun, beard tussled and he still wore the clothes he'd left with the other day.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, grabbing the frantic man by his arms and leading him towards the couch.

"Alex, he... he snapped at me. Big time." Jesus said looking up at Daryl with his glossy eyes.

Daryl's mouth flew open, he'd never thought of Alex as a violent man, sure he could have a bit of a temper, but he had never been one to snap or hit anyone.  
He usually solved his issues with words.

"What? When? Why?" Daryl asked when his mouth started working again.

"Just now. Right before I called you. I went to his place in an attempt to work things out between us again, just so we could be friends if nothing else. Everything seemed alright until he started yelling at me, accusing me for having cheating on him with you. He said that it all made perfect sense, because I'm always with you."

"I said that he was being ridiculous for accusing me of that, that I'd never cheat on him and I asked were he got that idea from. Then he showed me a picture on instagram of me and you in a very compromised position in the bar we were at."

Daryl's stomach twisted painfully and he looked down at his phone, remembering he was expecting a text from Glenn about said picture.  
Once his phone lit up he saw that Glenn had sent him a message along with a screenshot of the picture.

The picture was taken from inside the bar in such an angle that you could see both Daryl's and Jesus profiles perfectly dispite the position their were in.  
Jesus were straddling Daryl's lap, Daryl's hands holding a secure grip on Jesus bottom. They were in the middle of what looked like a very passionate kiss.

-true love- were the caption of the picture, followed by the tagging of Maggie, Rick, Glenn and Alex.

~The account was only created yesterday, I don't know who it belongs to. Sry bro.~ Glenn had typed underneath the picture.

~it's alright.~ Daryl responded and looked at Jesus who were looking over Daryl's shoulder.

"Who in their right mind does something like this?" Jesus asked.

"I don't know." Daryl answered, putting his phone down next to him on the couch.  
"What happened after he showed you the picture?" He asked, dreading the answer he'd get.

"I've never seen Alex so angry before. First he called me a dirty liar, and started smashing everything that got in his way. Throwing away glasses and some of the figurines he has in the living room." Jesus paused and swallowed loudly.  
Daryl put his hand in Jesus lap, squeezing his knee softly.  
Jesus looked up at him and offered him a weak smile and continued slowly.  
"I stepped in to stop him, didn't want him to destroy everything in his apartment, I knew he would regret it later.  
That's when he grabbed me by my wrists and shoved me with everything he had into the wall.  
Everything went black for a while, like someone pulled a switch inside my head." Jesus voice grew weaker by every word, like he didn't have enough air left in his lungs to continue.

"You don't have to tell me Paul. You should rest." Daryl said. He felt a mix of emotions, one part of him wanted to hug and comfort Jesus and never let him go ever again, while another part of him wanted to storm out of the apartment and drive to Alex apartment and smash all of his teeth in.

Jesus shook his head and looked up at Daryl again.  
"It's ok. I have to get it out." He said, slipping his hand on top of Daryl's and squeezed it just as Daryl had done with his knee.  
"When my vision returned, just a few seconds later, Alex looked wrecked. The guilt and hurt on his face, I can't describe it. But I couldn't just forgive him, I couldn't look at him.  
So I ran out of there, and then I called you."

Daryl nodded and glanced at his phone who had flashed again.  
He saw that he had a new message from a unknown number.  
He chose to ignore it and read it later.

"How are you feeling?" Daryl asked.

"Kind of shaken, and pissed off at the same time.  
Both on Alex and the one who uploaded the picture."

"Yea, me too. I kinda want to know who it is." Daryl said, looking over at Jesus again.  
"What are you going to do about Alex?" He asked then.

"What do you mean?" Jesus asked, furrowing his brows.

"I mean, will you turn him in or anything?"

Jesus shook his head and looked down at their hands resting on his knee.  
"No. I don't think so. He reacted on instinct. I know what I did, touching him like that while he was upset was stupid, and it's not like he's a violent man, that's the first time he's ever acted out on me, and I've done some really stupid things."

"I can't make you do anything, but I think you should, I don't know, talk to Rick about it at least." Daryl said.

"Sure. But not tonight, I just want to relax and watch a movie with you or something, forget him for a while. Can we do that?" Jesus asked, looking up at Daryl with his big green eyes.

Daryl felt his heart melt a little by that look, he'd never be able to deny that man anything when he was looking at him like that.  
He knew he should be working, the rational part of his brain told him that, but Jesus eyes successfully shut that part of his brain up.

"Sure. Your pick." He said, Jesus face lit up in the first genuine smile since he'd walked into the apartment.

~~~*~~~

Jesus had ended up choosing for them to look at ”the pacifier”. Daryl had already seen the movie, but it was a funny movie, and he wasn't really concentrating on the screen anyway.  
His eyes flickered between the tv screen and on Jesus face.  
Jesus was an entertaining person to look at when he watched movies Daryl had noticed. He always got so lost in the characters and the plot that you could follow what happened on the screen just by watching Jesus face!  
It was hilarious, and really cute.

"Did you see that?!" Jesus exclaimed, pointing on the screen. "That's their neighbors!"

"Yea, I know. Haven't you seen this already?" Daryl asked, stretching out in the couch.

"No, always wanted though. The rock is totally hot!" Jesus said, glancing over at Daryl.

"Hmmm, I guess. He's not hard on the eyes."

Jesus turned his head towards Daryl and looked at him with wide eyes for a few seconds before tuning his head back to the tv.

"It's so weird." He said then.

"What is?" Daryl asked.

"You being gay." Daryl tilted his head and gave Jesus a funny look, which Jesus must've noticed, because he continued speaking right afterwards.  
"I mean, not weird-weird. It's just that I'm used to think of you like my straight friend, and now you aren't."

"I didn't take you as the homophobic person Paul." Daryl joked.

Jesus chuckled and looked over at Daryl again, shaking his head.  
"I'm not. But you know. It's just gonna take me some getting used to. It's great though, we can talk about guys together and stuff!"

That statement got Daryl to crack up a bit.  
"Not sure I want to do that." He said when he stopped laughing.

"Oh come on! It will be fun!" Jesus said.

"Doubt it." Daryl stated, and picked up his phone who had slid down from the couch to the floor.  
He pressed the home button and noticed the text from the unknown number he'd gotten before.

~is Jesus with you?~ the text said.

He didn't have to think twice about who'd sent it.

"I think Alex texted me." He said to Jesus.  
"Didn't know he had my number."

Jesus looked at him with furrowed brows.  
"I haven't given it to him. Must've gotten it from my phone or something, he knew my password before I changed it."

Daryl nodded in understanding.

"What does he want?" Jesus asked then.

"He just wants to know if you're here." Daryl answered him, sitting up and showing him the text.  
"Should I answer?"

Jesus just shook his head and turned his attention back to the movie.  
"No. Just leave it."

Daryl nodded and put his phone down on the table, returning his attention to the screen again.

 

 


	2. And this happened too...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter is here!  
> I hope you'll like this one too.  
> :)

"You should stay the night!" Daryl said as the end credits rolled across the screen.  
"You could stay longer if you like, just until everything's been settled between you and Alex."

Jesus looked at him from his laying position on the couch.  
"You would be alright with that? Me staying with you?" He asked the older man.

"Yea. I mean, Alex is all railed up right now. Don't really want you to go back to your apartment and be there all by yourself. What if he shows up or something."

"I can take care of myself you know." Jesus pointed out.

"I know. Didn't said you couldn't. But I would feel safer if you'd stay with me." Daryl said, looking at Jesus intensely.

"Alright. I will!" Jesus agreed then.  
"But were will I sleep? The couch?"

"If you want. Or I can take the couch, doesn't really matter to me." Daryl said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Nah man, don't want to kick you out of your own bed." Jesus said, sitting up.  
"I'll take the couch."

Daryl nodded his head and stood up.  
"Okay, ya really don't have to, I would be fine on the couch."  
He said looking over at Jesus again. He wanted to give Jesus a fair chance to change his mind.  
But Jesus just shook his head stubbornly and shifted around on the couch to get more comfortable.

"I'll be fine here." He said, smiling at Daryl in reassurance.

"Alright!" Daryl said, holding his hands out in surrender.  
"I'll get some blankets for ya."

Jesus nodded and turned his head to the tv screen again, which was now showing the main menu of the movie.

Daryl came back holding, blankets, a pillow, a sheet and a pillowcase.

"Here." He said. Putting the pile next to Jesus.  
"I can help ya fix the couch if you want to.”

"No, I can do it." Jesus said, already starting to unfold the sheet, spreading it out on the couch.  
"You get ready for bed."

Daryl shifted a little on his feet before nodding and turned towards the bathroom.

A few minutes later Daryl walked out of the bathroom.  
When he made it through the living room he saw that Jesus was finished with the couch, but he didn't see Jesus.  
As he headed towards his bedroom he heard water running from the kitchen sink.  
He peeked inside the kitchen and saw Jesus standing by the counter, drinking a glass of water.  
He watched how his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed the fluid, and followed a single droplet of water that had managed to escape, and trickled down the mans beard and down his neck.

Daryl caught himself staring at the man and snapped out of it before he made a total fool of himself.  
He cleared his throat to get the others attention.

"Um, the bathrooms all yours.  
There's an extra toothbrush behind the mirror. Is there anything else you need?" Daryl asked.

Jesus shook his head no.  
"I think I have everything." He said, putting the glass down in the sink.  
"Thank you, for letting me stay here."

"No problem at all." Daryl said, leaning slightly at the wall.

The two men just stood there for a while, eyeing each other.  
Daryl could feel a tension breaking out in the air, and he knew that he would do something he might regret if he didn't walk away.  
So he did the only thing he thought was right, even though it was really hard for him to do.

"I'm heading of to bed." He said, backing away slowly. He thought he could see disappointment flash over Jesus face, and he felt it too.

"Alright, good night." Jesus said, flashing a smile at Daryl.

"Night." Daryl said back, turning around and walked to his bedroom.

As he closed the door to his bedroom he leaned against it and took a deep calming breath.  
What the fuck! - he thought.  
This was going to be harder than he thought.

~~~*~~~

Daryl slept badly that night. He kept having weird dreams about instagram pictures and Jesus running to him with tears in his eyes.  
When he woke up for the last time he turned around to check the time on his phone.  
It said 6.30 am, his alarm wouldn't go off in another thirty minutes, but he felt to restless to lay in his bed any longer and decided to get up.

He got out off his bed and walked to his closet.  
He had and office day, so he had to look presentable for his boss.  
He mostly just worked from home on his computer, but Wednesday's were office days. On those days they had to show how far they'd gotten on their assignments with a group meeting with their team, along with the boss.  
And he'd gotten absolutely nowhere on his assignment, which made him even more nervous about the meeting.

His boss, Negan, was a very short tempered man. He wasn't mean per say, but his persona just screamed "don't mess with me."  
He was a really good boss, and had given Daryl a chance disspite his past, never questioned it once.  
And Daryl didn't want to give the guy a reason to second guess his choice in hiring him.

Daryl walked out off his bedroom and walked into the kitchen as quietly as possible.  
He spotted Jesus on the couch on his way over to the kitchen.  
He was laying on his back, his hair fanning out on the pillow and his arm laying across his eyes, shielding most of his face.  
Daryl smiled a little to himself by how adorable Jesus looked laying there.  
He continued into the kitchen, opening the fridge and took out the carton of orange juice.  
He craved caffeine badly, but decided he could make a stop on his way to work instead of making unnecessary noise and wake the sleeping man up.

After downing a few mouthfuls of juice he sneaked into the bathroom.  
After he had relieved himself and made quick work in brushing his teeth he left the apartment, leaving a note on the bathroom mirror, telling Jesus where he was and when he was expecting to be home.  
He even taped the spare key on the note, so Jesus could go outside if he wanted to.  
He locked the door and slowly made his way down the stairs towards the garage.

~~~*~~~

Twenty minutes later Daryl passed the huge glass doors of "motor magazine" headquarters, with his coffee in hand.  
Motor magazine was one of the biggest selling magazines about cars and other motor vehicles, mostly because of the extent of background checks and fieldwork that the workers were doing to give the exact fact to what they were writing about.  
That was one of the many things Daryl respected and loved about his job.  
That and the fact that he got to try out countless of motorcycles, and get paid for it!

He walked past the huge lobby and studied the other workers that was hurrying around in the lobby.  
They were all dressed in the kind of suits that would make Barney Stinson proud, and made Daryl feel underdressed.  
But he just wasn't cut out for the whole suit thing, "nice clothes" for him was a shirt without holes in them and a pair of clean jeans.  
Today he'd taken it further though and had put on the only plain white dress shirt he owned and left the winged vest at home. Instead he'd put on his black leather jacket and a pair of black jeans.

On his way to his office – he had and office, but he never used it - he almost collided with Morgan, one of the colleagues he actually liked.

"Morning Daryl!" He greeted after successfully evading Daryl's coffee mug.  
"Not quite awake yet?"

"Morning." Daryl greeted back.  
"No, sorry. Didn't get much sleep last night."

"It's alright. No harm no foul." He said, flashing a wide smile at Daryl.

"Right." Daryl said, smiling back at him.  
Morgan began walking away towards the office where the meeting was going to be held.

Daryl continued walking towards his office again, trying to keep himself a little more alert so he wouldn't almost walk into another one of his colleagues.

Daryl opened the door to his office and entered the dark room.  
He put his coffee mug on the desk and turned his computer on.  
Figuring he could read some emails and work a little on his article before the meeting started.

He skimmed through the inbox of his email account. Most of them was from his coworkers. Ther was one invitation to the annual office party. There was few emails from his boss reminding them of the meeting and the deadline.  
There was a few spams mails in the mix of which he deleted without opening them.

He clicked the icon to open the article he was working on and stared blankly at the it. He felt as if the words were looking back accusingly at him, like they knew he'd been prosponing his work so he could spend time with Jesus instead.  
He sighed deeply as he tried to focus on getting some much needed work done and pushed away the image of Jesus laying in his couch, or even worse, the image of a very naked Jesus running out off his bedroom.  
Groaning at the persistent mental images he took a sip of his coffee and forced his eyes back on the screen.

~~~*~~~

Thirty minutes later Daryl walked into the meeting room.  
Most of his team was already sitting down, chatting softly to each other.  
He took a seat next to Sasha, another of his colleagues that he was getting along nicely with.

"You look tired today. You're getting sick?" She asked looking concerned.

"Nah, just haven't slept to great." He answered, brushing her concern away.

"Try to get some rest when you get home then." She said, patting him affectionately on his shoulder.

"Good morning team!" A voice boomed as the doors swung open, startling both Daryl and Sasha.   
"Aren't y'all looking fresh and well rested today!”

Negan smiled widely at his staff holding a small chihuahua with his right arm.  
"This is Lucille." He said raising the small dog slightly into the air.  
"Her nanny called in sick just at the last minute and left me with no other choice than to take her with me. I hope you'll get along just fine with her."

The small chihuahua looked around with her big brown eyes, sniffing the air while she growled softly, her small body vibrating at the effort. She wore a bright pink collar, with a silver pattern resembling barbed wire.

"I think she likes you!" Negan said, smiling lovingly at the dog while he stroked the short fur of her back.  
"I will keep this meeting as short as possible, I know we have a deadline coming up in a few days and want to get back to your work asap. So. How are things coming along?"

Negan took a seat in his chair on the short end of the table, looking out at his team while he placed the small brown dog in his lap.  
She continued with her livid sniffing, but had stopped growling.

"Most of the pages seems to be written." Simon, Negan's right hand guy and editor said from his laptop screen.  
"Needs a little more work here and there but it looks like we're keeping the timeline!"

Negan smiled widely, showing all of his pearly white teeth.  
"Sounds terrific!" He exclaimed.  
"This is what I want to hear! Because if everything is working smoothly, I'm happy. And if I'm happy, you guys are happy! Nice going team!"

The meeting pressed on, them going on about what was missing and how the cover of the magazine should look like. They decided on that a vintage motorcycle should be fronting the cover, since that was their leading story that months issue.  
As the meeting came to an end and everybody was getting up from their seat, Negan called Daryl's name.

"Can I talk with you for a while?" He asked.  
Daryl felt his stomach twist uncomfortably. If the boss wanted to speak with you in private it couldn't be good news.  
Daryl nodded nevertheless and walked towards his boss. Lucille jumped up to a standing position in her masters lap and growled so loudly Daryl was afraid she would break into a million pieces.

"Are you alright Daryl?" Negan asked when the rest of the team had left the room.  
"You look tired, and even though Simon never mentioned it, I know you've been slacking off with your work."  
Negan gave him a look of which Daryl only could describe as genuine concern.

"I'm fine. Haven't slept too great last night." He said, trying to wave of negans concern just as he'd done with carol.  
"And as for the work, I'm sorry. Been having some private issues."

Negan nodded and scratched the still growling Lucille behind one of her large ears.  
"Does this private issue involve a picture on instagram?"  
Negan asked then.

Daryl tensed and felt his heart speed up in an alarming rate as a blinding panic started to spread trough his body.  
This couldn't be happening!  
He hoped this would all be a very twisted bad dream and that he would wake up in his bed any minute now. Preferably with Jesus by his side.

"Calm down kid! I don't give a single fuck about what you do on your free time." He said while standing up, moving the now quieted down Lucille back to his right hand.  
"It's when your work suffers because of what you do on your free time I give a fuck about."

"I'm sorry. Were trying to figure out who uploaded that picture. I think they did it to make the... ehhh other guy in the picture to suffer." Daryl said and felt his face heat up as the words were spoken.

He felt uncomfortable talking about his private life to his friends, so talking about his private life to his boss was taking uncomfortable to a whole new level!

"Look, I get it! Shit happens! That is why I'll let it slide, this time.  
I like you. You're good at what you do and you're a really good asset to this magazine." Negan said gripping one of Daryl's wide shoulders with his free hand.  
"But if you make this a bad habit, I will have to let you go."

Negan' voice shifted at the last sentence, telling Daryl that he wasn't kidding around.

"I won't!" Daryl said quickly. He felt really small in the presence of his boss in that moment.  
Feeling like he was a kid telling their parent that he would do better at some school assignment.

"Good! That's all I wanted to hear." Negan said and started to walk out of the room.  
"And if you need any help finding the bastard who uploaded the picture, I have some connections that might be able to help you out. Just let me know."

" I will." Daryl answered. And watched as Negan nodded at him left the room, leaving Daryl alone.  
He let out a large breath and sat down in the chair closest to him, feeling completely mentally drained.

~~~*~~~

When Daryl finally got home from the office Jesus called for him from the couch.

"Haven't you been to work today?" Daryl asked and walked towards the living room when he'd taken his jacket and shoes off.

"Called in sick today." He said and tuned the tv off.  
"I had other things to do today."

"What things?" Daryl asked and sat down beside him with an exhausted huff.

"I talked to Rick about Alex." Jesus said.

Daryl felt his stomach twist a little when Jesus mentioned Alex name.  
Made him remember why Jesus was in his apartment in the first place.

"What did he say? What did you tell him?" Daryl asked, looking intensely into Jesus ocean colored eyes.

"I told him what happened, in short. And I told him about how he'd never snapped at me like that before, that he usually is a very calm guy." He said, casting his eyes down to his hands.  
"Rick told me that he thought I should report it either way, but that he couldn't make me."

"What did you decide to do?" Daryl asked then.

"I decided to not do it. I don't want to be the reason that destroyed his life."  
Daryl opened his mouth to argue with him, but before he got a single syllable out Jesus started talking again.  
"But! If he does it again or so even threatens me, I will."

"Good." Daryl stated.  
"I really hope ya won't have to, but it's really good to hear that ya will, if need be."

"It's just really hard you know?" Jesus said locking eyes with Daryl again.  
"He's been such a big part of my life for so long, I just… I can't report him like that, he'll lose his job if I do it. So, no. I'll give him a second chance."

Daryl's eyes widened and his guts twisted even more painfully as fear settled into his system.

"You're going to take him back?" He spat out with more force than he intended to.

"Oh god no!" Jesus said, grimacing in disgust.  
"No, I really don't want him back. But I don't want to ruin his life if I can help it."

Daryl felt himself relax a little at Jesus words. He knew he had it bad for the guy, and he was happier than he felt comfortable of telling to have Jesus living with him, if only temporary.

"Okay, good. Asshole doesn't deserve you." He said.

"Funny you'd say that." Jesus chuckled.  
"I'm sure most people would say it's the other way around."

"What do you mean?" Daryl asked, fixing his eyes on the other man.

Jesus sighed deeply, looking down at the dusty rug on the floor of Daryl's living room.

"Ive been together with Alex for over two years, and in that amount of time we've broken up at least ten times for various reasons. But they have one thing in common." Jesus paused and looked up at Daryl, sporting a sad smile.  
"It was always my fault, one way or the other."

Daryl opened his mouth, but couldn't come up with anything to say and closed it again.  
Jesus frowned and fixed his eyes back on the rug.

"I've never been unfaithful or anything, but I've done some really stupid things. Like partying too much and ended up with a bunch of strangers in another town, spent all of my money on unnecessary shit, started arguments for no reason and so on."

Jesus paused again and raked his fingers trough his hair.  
Daryl could see that the younger man was feeling really uncomfortable with the conversation they were having, that he was ashamed and he almost told him that he didn't need to continue when Jesus continued speaking.

"Alex is a very mature guy, wanted a serious relationship and I just couldn't give him that. Not that I don't want a steady relationship, because I do, with the right person.  
I couldn't give him what he wanted because I don't feel for him the way he does for me. So, I'm the asshole, not Alex. That's the other reason why I can't report him, because I'm surprised he haven't snapped at me sooner. I've given him plenty of reasons to do it.”

Daryl took a moment to process the new information given to him.  
He knew that Jesus had been a little on the wild side, that he and Alex was known for having an on-off relationship, but he'd never asked why, never thought it was his business.  
One thing that Jesus had said stuck more with him than the rest "not that I don't want to have a relationship, I do, with the right person."  
Daryl knew that that sentence shouldn't dig that deep into him, but it did. He so wanted to be that right person.

"I don't know what to tell you." Daryl said after a few moments.  
"I mean, Alex had a choice too. He could've walked away. But he chose to take you back again and again."

Jesus huffed a laugh and looked up at Daryl.  
"Yeah, he could've. Guess I'm more persuasive than you think I am."

"Guess you are." Daryl murmured.

"I'm sorry, you must think I'm a giant douche right now."

Daryl looked at Jesus, meeting his huge sad eyes with his own narrower ones.  
"I don't. Surprisingly, but it's true. I've done some really bad shit myself, so I'm not really the one to judge."

"You have? Care to share?" Jesus asked, his mood seemingly lighting up a little.

"Sure, but I really need something to eat first. You want to help me out in the kitchen?" He asked then.

~~~*~~~

"You're not serious!" Jesus laughed while filling his fork with some more chicken and potatoes.

After rummaging around in the freezer Daryl had realized that he really needed to go shopping for food. Jesus had found a pack of frozen chicken.  
They decided to cook that up and serve it with some potatoes Daryl had found in the pantry.  
It really wasn't half bad with the sauce Jesus had made.

"Unfortunately I am." Daryl answered, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"So what did you do after? Did you just throw him out?" Jesus asked, putting the bite of food in his mouth.

After they'd made their food, Jesus had asked Daryl to tell him the story of when he'd been a complete douche , of which Daryl had contred with "which time?"  
Jesus jaw had dropped, and after he'd collected himself he'd said that Daryl could pick one of the worst times.  
At that Daryl had chosen to tell him about the first time Daryl had taken a date home.  
His dad and brother hadn't known he was gay at the time, that was why Daryl never took his hookups home. But that night he'd been to drunk to care and had done it anyway.  
Resulting in that his brother had barged into his room while they were going at it like two wild animals to see what the strange sounds was.

"Well, my drunk ass shoved the guy off of me and punched him square in the face, asking what the fuck he was doing out of pure fear and panic, not thinking about that I was just as naked as he was. The poor guy stood up after and glared at me, calling me an asshole while he collected his clothes and ran out of there not even bothering with putting them on."

"Oh my god! Can't say that I don't agree with the guy of you being an asshole, but what a way of getting out of the closet!" Jesus said shaking his head.  
"What did your brother say?"

"After he came down from the shock and had taken in what he'd seen he yelled at me for a solid hour, then he barged out of my room and came back an hour later to yell at me some more. Can't say that he was to fond about the whole thing, but he came around.  
Begged him not to tell dad though, and he never did."

"Your dad didn't know?" Jesus asked. Daryl shook his head no and looked down at his plate.

"Nah. He found out about a year later from one of his drinking buddies who'd seen me and some random dude making out behind a drugstore. Got me a good lashing for that when he came home that night."

The atmosphere in the room dropped remarkably after Daryl had said that, making him cringe inwardly.  
He hadn't meant for the conversation to take such a dark turn.  
But it almost always did when he talked about his family, which was why he hardly ever did.  
He'd gotten over it, mostly anyway.  
He still resented his father, and he was still mad as hell at Merle for getting thrown in jail.  
But other than that, he was over it. It was all in the past.  
He'd gotten professional help from a psychiatrist, dr Carol Peletier and she'd help him to put that all behind him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to go there." Daryl murmured.

"No, I'm sorry..." Jesus said, his eyes filled with sadness.  
"I know you've told me your dad used to hurt you, but I didn't know why."

"It was a really long time ago, I'm over it." Daryl waved off.  
"And dad started long before that, that was just a new reason for him to do it. Bastard always came up with new reasons to beat me and my brother up."

"I'm still sorry though." Jesus said, looking down at his almost empty plate.

"Thanks." Daryl said softly, pushing a piece of potato across his plate, not really feeling hungry anymore.

He desperately tried to come up with a lighter subject to change the mood in the room, but came up blank.  
Why the fuck did he always have to do that?! Couldn't he just stay to the funny side of his story's? Sure, it was a difficult task when it came to his family, but still!

"I got kicked out when I was fifteen." He heard Jesus say then.  
Daryl looked up from his plate to look at the man in front of him.  
He were still looking down at the plate in front of him.  
"I lost my older brother when I was eight in a car accident. A friend of him was driving, it was late and I guess he must've fallen asleep. Collided with a tree. My brother took most of the impact and died instantly, his friend survived the collision but died due to his injuries on the way to the hospital."  
Jesus put his fork down and looked up at Daryl.  
"My parents never got over his death, neither did I, I guess. I started smoking pot and hung out with the wrong crowd by the age of thirteen. By the time I turned fifteen my parents got fed up with my destructive behavior and kicked me out. I got placed in a group home shortly after."

Jesus leaned back in the chair and gave Daryl a small smile, before continuing his story.

"Can't say I ever forgave my parents for what they did, for not trying to reach out to me. Can't say that I blame them either.  
But I can say that I understand what you've gone through, on some level at least. My parents never hit me, but they neglected me nevertheless."

Daryl nodded, understanding what Jesus meant by that.  
It wasn't the same, in most levels, but there was a similarity in the sense of having parents that didn't care about their kids.

"Guess we both come from screwed up families." Daryl said, tilting his head to the side.

"I guess we do."

~~~*~~~

"I really think I can figure out who posted this, but I'm gonna need some help." Glenn said, clicking around on Daryl's computer.  
"Think we can get rick in on this too? He's a cop after all."

It had been a week since the picture of Jesus and Daryl had popped up on the mystery instagram account. A week since Jesus had more or less moved in with Daryl.  
So far no more pictures had appeared on the account, but the account hadn't been taken down either, which was unsettling to both Daryl and Jesus. It felt like if they did one wrong move, someone would snap a picture and upload it for everyone to see.  
Daryl knew it was a ridiculous thought, but it didn't make it any less unsettling.  
The one good thing the mystery account had done, was bringing Jesus to live with him.  
Just thinking about seeing Jesus sleeping on the couch every morning made his heart flutter in his chest.

"Earth to Daryl!" Glenn said a little louder, bringing Daryl out of his daydream about how good Jesus looked in the morning.  
"Do you think rick will work his cop magic and bring this bastard to justice?"

Daryl laid down fully on the couch Jesus had used as his bed for the past week, enjoying how the pillows smelled faintly like him, having to remind himself that Glenn was looking at him to stop himself from pressing his face into the pillow.

"I think as that rick is a cop, and have more important things to do than looking up instagram users." Daryl said.

"I think he would take his time to look at it, important or no. You're his friend after all." Glenn said then, turning his attention back to the instagram page.  
"I could could ask him."

Daryl hummed lazily. Sure, he wanted to know who the bastard was just as much as his friend did. Probably more. But he wasn't going to ask his cop friend for help. The sheer humiliation in thinking about asking him was enough to make him cringe. And sure, he could take his bosses offer and let his connections look into it. But, the truth was that he was actually afraid of wha this boss's connections would do to the person when they found them. He wanted to find out who it was, just, not that bad.

"What's up with you anyway?" Glenn asked suddenly, bringing him out of his head again and snapped his eyes at the man.

"What?" He asked, feeling confused about the seemingly random question.

"Ever since I got here you've been spending most of the time in silence, smiling at yourself every now and then. Sure, you've never been much of a talker, but this is ridiculous!" He said, placing the computer down on the table, got up from the armchair and walked over to the couch, sitting down on the small space Daryl wasn't occupying.

Daryl didn't know what to tell him. He knew that he'd been more quiet than usual, even for his standards.  
It seemed like Jesus had successfully occupied his brain, the bearded man was all he seemed to be able to think about. It had only gotten worse since they'd gotten to know each other better.  
Since the night Jesus had told him about his family, they'd continued telling each other bits and pieces of their past. Daryl really loved to hear about whatever new information the younger man was willing to share.  
He loved getting closer to the other man, even though getting closer to him meant falling even more for him too.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Daryl said stubbornly.

"Come on man. I've known you long enough to know when you're lying." Glenn said, staring him down.

Daryl squirmed a little under his friend's gaze, knowing full and well that it was pointless to lie to him.  
Daryl took a deep breath and held his hands up in defeat.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to shut up about it! Can't even tell Maggie about it, and if you do, I will kill you!" Daryl said then. Glenn nodded and kept on looking at him intensely.  
Daryl took a calming breath and sat up on the couch, rummaging around in his head of where to begin.

"I'm, um... I like Paul. I like him a lot actually.” Daryl began.  
Glenn raised his eyebrows in mild shock. Clearly not expecting that.  
"I've liked him for a long while now. But never done anything about it since he was together with Alex. And now he's not, but I don't want to be a rebound and... yea."  
Daryl looked down at the couch and breathed out through his clenched teeth, feeling really vulnerable and stupid.

"Okey... well, not what I expected." Glenn said. The room grew quiet for a few heartbeats before Glenn spoke up again.  
"From what the picture on instagram tells us, you guys have already hit it off at least once!"

Daryl chuckled darkly and looked up at his friend.  
"Yea, the sad part about that is that both me and Paul was to fucking drunk to remember if anything happened between us that night."

He told Glenn about the morning they'd woken up, naked and hung over.  
Glenn's jaw dropped down to his knees when he got to the part about Jesus not knowing about Daryl being gay.

"You never told him?" Glenn asked.

"Thought I did!" Daryl said defensively.

Glenn laughed at the mess that was Daryl's life at the moment.  
"So, now you're more or less living with your crush, who you may or may not already have slept with." He summed up.

"Yup. Sounds about right." Daryl chuckled, because even if it sucked, even he could see the comedy in the situation he was in.

"That have to stink big time!"

"Can't lie, it really does." Daryl said, nodding his head.

"I guess you have to step it up then. Flirt a little. Who knows, he might be interested too." Glenn tried.

"Maybe. I think I'm getting way to far down the rabbit hole to even care about being a rebound or not." He grumbled. Because he really was.

"Best of luck to you buddy." Glenn said, patting him on the shoulder and got up from the couch.  
"Think I have to run, told Maggie I'd be home for about an hour ago."  
He dug out his phone from his front pocket, looked down at the screen and grimaced.  
"Yup, eight missed calls. She's going to kill me when I get home."

Daryl laughed and followed his friend to the door.

"I'll talk to Rick." Glenn said as he tied his shoes.  
"Busy as he is, he might have time to give it a look."

"Maybe." Daryl said, not really believing it, but didn't say anything.

He waved his friend off and walked back to the living room, deciding to busy himself with cleaning the apartment until Jesus got back from work.  
He couldn't help to feel a little bit better after his talk with Glenn.  
It felt good to have someone to confine in, even if it just was about a crush.  
He felt lighter somehow.  
With a smile tugging at his lips he picked up some dirty coffee mugs he and Jesus hand left in the coffee table the other night and walked into the kitchen.

~~~*~~~

After Daryl finished cleaning up and had started on the dinner he sat down up the table and took out his phone, browsing around on various social media apps.  
After liking some off his friends pictures on instagram, the picture of him and Paul making out scrolled by on his small screen.  
He scrolled back to it and studied it for a moment.  
He hadn't taken the time to actually look at it, only gotten small glances of the picture on Paul's phone and a quick look from the screen cap he'd gotten from Glenn.

He zoomed in on their faces, Daryl were holding a firm grip on the back of Jesus head, their lips pressed firmly together in a deep kiss, Jesus were fisting his hands on the back of Daryl's shirt like he wanted to draw him even closer, even if they were pressed as close to each other as humanly possible, both of their eyes were closed, oblivious to their surroundings.

"We look cute don't we?" Jesus voice came behind him.  
Daryl jumped and almost dropped his phone on the floor in the proses.

"What the fuck!?" Daryl hissed in embarrassment. He'd been so lost in his thoughts about the picture he hadn't heard Jesus walk in.

"Woah, calm down!" Jesus laughed.  
"It's only me! And believe me, I've been lost in that picture multiple times myself."

Daryl's heart sped up in his chest and he could feel his face heating up at Jesus confession.  
It made him feel slightly less embarrassed though.  
He glanced back at his phone again, thinking back at that night.

"Do you ever wonder... if we ever, you know... hooked up?" Daryl asked softly, feeling embarrassed for asking the question that had been running around in his head since the day he'd woken up with the man beside him without even noticing.

"Well, um." Jesus began. Daryl looked up at the man, curious to why he suddenly acted so nervous. Did he know something he didn't?

"What?" Daryl asked.  
Jesus fridgitted a little where he stood, looking everywhere else but at Daryl.  
"What do you know?" He pressed, Jesus apparent nervousness seeping into him.

"I'll tell you, if you promise me if you won't, you know, freak out or anything." He said, finally looking into Daryl's eyes.

"I won't." Daryl assured.  
Jesus didn't look like he believed him and tensed his eyes on him.  
"I promise!" Daryl said, trying desperately to look believable.

Jesus sighed and closed his eyes, fiddling a little with some loose strands of hair that had escaped his bun with his left hand.  
"All right." He said.  
" I've been getting these flashbacks from that night. Just small glimpses here and there, but from what I've been able to puzzle out through them, we definitely did hook up." Jesus opened his eyes when he'd stopped talking and looked over at Daryl by the table.

Daryl felt giddy, nervous and horrified at the same time.  
He was giddy because he'd actually hooked up with the beautiful man standing in front of him!  
He was horrified because he'd actually hooked up with the beautiful man standing in front of him, and he DIDN'T remember it!  
He was nervous because Jesus remembered it! What if he'd made a fool of himself and fucked everything up, just because he'd been too damn drunk to stop himself!

"You're freaking out!" Jesus said.

"No I'm not!" Daryl lied.  
"I'm just... what do you remember? What did we do?"

Jesus took a deep breath and sat down by the table on the chair next to Daryl.  
"Don't remember that much, like I said, just glimpses. I remember you laying on top of me, kissing me, hard. I remember us rubbing our, you know… Junk… Together." Jesus actually blushed when he said that last part. Daryl thought he looked cute with that soft pink hue on his cheeks.  
"I remember we finishing each other off, and feeling content and relaxed. Last thing I remember is waking up alone with a splitting headache and having to run to the bathroom to stop myself from puking all over your bedroom."

"Oh." Was all Daryl could work his mouth to say.

"Yeah, oh."

Daryl got up from the chair and walked over to the stove to turn it off, the vegetable stew he'd been preparing was more than ready at that point.  
He could feel Jesus eyes on him as he prepared the finishing touches so they could eat.

"We didn't do anything else?" He asked then, wanting to keep some form of conversation flowing.

"I don't think so. I mean, don't remember anything else." Jesus answered, getting up from his seat as well to get out two plates for them.

"Okey. Good I think."

Jesus placed the plates next to the stove and looked at Daryl, gnawing nervously on his bottom lip.

"Look, I really hope this won't change anything between us." He said, his voice sounding small. Almost scared.  
"We were drunk, a lot of people have done stupid stuff while they were drunk..."  
Jesus trailed off.

"No. Nothing will change, kinda suspected something had happened anyway." Daryl said reassuringly.

He got a small smile from the younger man. He looked calmer.

"Now let's eat!" Daryl said.  
Jesus nodded and helped Daryl set the table.

~~~*~~~

Daryl and Jesus had just settled on the couch, deciding on watching whatever was on the tv, when they heard a knock on the door.  
Daryl looked over at Jesus, who just shook his head and shrugged, clearly not expecting anyone.

Daryl walked over to the door, opened it slowly and peeked outside. Alex stood outside, nervousness clearly visible in his chiseled face, his eyes darting from Daryl to inside the apartment.

"Um... hi. Is Je-Paul here? His not answering my text or calls." Alex said, still trying to look over Daryl's shoulder to see inside the dimly lit apartment.  
"I tried his place too. No one answered, and one of his neighbors told me he haven't been home for over a week."

Daryl felt lost, he could lie to the guy, and say that Jesus weren't there. But that would just worry him even more, and it wouldn't be fair to Jesus either.  
But he had no clue wether or not Jesus wanted to talk to Alex in the first place.

"I-um." Daryl said, feeling like a stuttering fool.

"I just want to talk to him. Please!" Alex pleaded. The guy looked so broken and lost that Daryl gave in. He opening the door fully so he could step inside.

"Stay here. I'll get him." Daryl said, turning around to get Jesus.

"Who was it?" Jesus asked, looking away from the screen to Daryl.

"It's for you." Daryl said, his voice sounding more annoyed than he intended.  
Jesus raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly.  
"It's Alex." Daryl said then in a lighter voice.

"Oh!" Jesus said and got up from the couch.  
"Did he tell you what he wanted?"  
Daryl shook his head, getting out of the way so Jesus could walk past him.

"No, just asked for you."

Jesus hummed and walked over to the front door where his ex waited for him.  
Daryl could hear them talking to each other, but couldn't make any words out.

After a few seconds Jesus walked past Daryl and over to the kitchen, Alex walking right behind him.  
Daryl moved closer to the kitchen silently, convincing himself that he wanted to listen to the private conversation to make sure nothing went south, not because he was jealous. Even though he was fully aware of that it was a complete lie.

"You seem well." He heard Alex say.

"Thanks. So do you." Jesus said.  
There was a prolonged silence followed by the scraping of a chair on the floor.  
Daryl guessed one of them had sat down.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted before." Alex said, breaking the tensed silence between them.

"I'm sorry too." Jesus breathed, his voice filled with emotions. Daryl wanted to go over there and hug him so badly. But then Jesus would know he'd been listening to them, so he decided against it.

"I want you to come back to me, we can make it work this time. I can feel it." Alex said. Daryl imagined Alex leaning over the table, taking Jesus hand in his and looking into his big blue eyes lovingly.  
That almost made Daryl think "screw it" and go over there and punch the ridiculously handsome mans lights out.  
But he couldn't do that, he couldn't decide who Jesus should be with.  
Daryl himself hadn't done anything to get closer to Jesus above friendship, so if Jesus chose to be with Alex again, that would be Daryl's own damn fault.

"Alex, no." Those words made Daryl stop his self loathing thoughts and listen more intensely to the conversation in his kitchen.  
"I'm really sorry about how it all went down for us, but I can't be with you again. I'm sorry"

"Oh, okay." Alex said, real hurt seeping into his words.

"I'm so sorry. I don't have the feelings for you that are necessary for our relationship to work. And I haven't for a long time.  
The last thing I want is to hurt you, but it wouldn't be fair to you to go back with you either."

"Is it... is it because of him?"He heard Alex ask quietly.

"Who, Daryl?"  
Daryl's ears perked up even more by the mention of his name.  
"Only partly."

"Do you have feelings for him Jesus?" Alex asked bluntly, he didn't sound angry, but Daryl could tell that he wasn't happy either.

"I do. Been having them for a long time."  
Daryl's heart started thumping so hard in his chest that he was surprised they didn't hear it in the kitchen.

"Does he know?" Alex asked.  
Jesus was quiet for a while, and the only thing Daryl could think of was the fact that Jesus liked him, and had been for while.  
How long? Why hadn't he said anything?

Daryl was so consumed in his thoughts that he missed Jesus answer and the reminder of their conversation.  
He got tossed back into reality when he heard the chairs scraping against the floor again, signaling that the conversation was over and Alex were going to take his leave.

Daryl jogged back to the couch and sat down, trying desperately not to look guilty when Alex and Jesus walked by towards the front door.

~~~*~~~

Things progressed more or less like normal after Alex visit.  
They had a brief conversation about Jesus moving back to his apartment.  
Jesus was the one bringing it up, saying that since Alex wasn't a threat he didn't see any problem getting out of Daryl's hair.  
Daryl liked having him living there, but couldn't come up with any valid arguments to not let him get on his way.

Jesus spent one last night on Daryl's couch, and took his bags with him to work the next day.  
And just like that he was gone, and Daryl was alone again.  
Daryl felt more depressed about it than he should, because it wasn't like he wasn't ever going to see him again.  
Just not every morning.

Daryl looked over at the couch, it looked way to empty without the blankets Jesus had used laying in a heap on it.

He snapped his eyes back to his computer screen again, trying to focus on the new assignment he'd gotten for the next moths issue.  
This time he was writing about futuristic motor cycles, which suited him just perfect.  
Since there wasn't that much research needed for how the Motor cycles would look like or function, he got more free hands and relied on his own imagination and ideas.

He'd gotten the work done just in time for the deadline last time, but it had been just barely, and wasn't something he wanted to repeat a second time.  
One "one on one" conversation with Negan was enough.  
Not that he didn't like the guy just fine.  
But his boss had a way of making him feel small and nervous, and not in a good way, like the way Jesus made him feel.  
No, the ”you're making me feel small" nervous.

He'd gotten a good page and a half written when there was a knock on the door.  
He got up from his seat and walked over to the hallway and opened the door, not sure on who he should expect on the other side.

"Carl?" He said, looking at the teenaged son of the officer.

"Daryl, hi. Um… Can I come in?"  
The teenager seemed tensed and nervous, almost stumbled over his words when he talked.  
Curious to what had gotten the teen so railed up, he moved out of the way to let him in.

"What's up?" Daryl asked when they had walked into the living space.

"Could you... I was... um." Carl rambled.

"What?" Daryl said, not understanding a word that had left the young mans mouth.  
"Slow down and start again."

Carl took a deep breath and tried again.  
"Could you please tell dad to stop the investigation?"

Daryl blinked, not understanding what investigation Carl was talking about.  
"What? Investigation?"

"Yes. I'm the one that took that picture of you and Jesus, and uploaded it to a fake instagram account. But I only did it because you and Jesus should be together!  
I wanted Jesus and Alex to break it off for good!"

Daryl stood and gaped at the teenager, hearing but not really understanding what he was talking about.  
And that sure as hell didn't explain what investigation he wanted Daryl to drop.

"So, you're the one taking and uploading the picture?" He asked, trying to grasp his head around it.

"Yes. When I was out with Enid that night she spotted you guys.  
We snuck into the bar and I took the picture. I wanted Alex to see it, and I wanted you guys to see that you belong together."

Daryl sat down on the couch, gesturing to the teenager to do the same.  
Carl looked from Daryl to the couch before taking up on the offer and sat down beside him.

"You know you can't meddle with people's life like that, right?" Daryl said after a few moments of silence.

"I know. And I'm really sorry!  
I just… I didn't think it would blow up like this! I overheard a conversation between Glenn and dad yesterday. They talked about the penalty for having a fake social media account, and that dad would look into it. He never said what account, but I pieced the pieces together. And I don't want to go to jail! Daryl Please tell dad to stop looking!"

The teenager looked so scared and broken it was almost ridiculous!  
Daryl's brain snapped to the conversation he'd had with Glenn a couple of days ago, and that Glenn must've asked Rick to take a look at the mystery account and try to find out who had started it.

"I can talk to him, but I'm not the one who asked him to look into it." Daryl said.

"You're not? Then who did?" Carl asked.

"I think Glenn did. He talked to me about it for about a week ago. But yeah, I can ask him to drop it, on one condition though."

"Anything!" Carl exclaimed.

"Don't meddle anymore. I know you did this out of good intentions, but it wasn't up to you to decide whether or not Alex and Paul should break up, and I really think you owe Paul and Alex a explanation and an apology."

"I won't! And I will apologize to Paul and Alex." Carl said nodding his head.  
"Now will you talk to dad?"

"Yea." Daryl said, smiling a little at the nervous teen.

~~~*~~~

Daryl kept his promise to Carl and called Rick right after the teen had left the apartment.  
Rick said that he'd had his suspensions about it being Carl who'd done it, because of his extreme interest about the picture.  
He said that he had been thinking about confronting the boy, but hadn't had the time to do it.  
That was why he'd been having the conversation about it being a fellony to have a fake account, only exaggerating a little bit about the penalty.

Daryl laughed and made Rick promise not to grill the teen too hard about it, that he seemed genuinely sorry for what he'd done.  
And nobody had gotten hurt.  
Rick had laughed too and said that he would think about it.

Just when Daryl had hung up the phone with Rick Jesus walked in through the door, just like he always used to do, never bothering with knocking.

”Hey!” Jesus said and sat down on the couch.  
”What's up? You seem happy.”

”I kind of am!” Daryl said and sat down beside the younger man.  
”I know who took the picture of us.”

”You do!?” Jesus said, grinning widely.  
”How did you find out? Who is it!?”  
Jesus was practically jumping on the couch like he'd just found out that he'd won the lottery.

”Calm down!” Daryl laughed and grabbed the smaller man by the arms to make him stop jumping.  
”The one who took the picture came here and told me.”

”What?! Are you kidding?” Jesus exclaimed, looking at Daryl with wide eyes.

”No I'm serious” Daryl said.

”Who was it?” Jesus asked.

”It was Carl.” Daryl answered, letting go of Jesus arms.

”Wait… Carl as in officer grimes son Carl?” Jesus asked, apparently not believing his ears.

”The one and only.” Daryl confirmed. He couldn't help the smile spreading across his lips by the look on Jesus face.

”Why did he do it?” Jesus asked then.  
Daryl told him about the conversation he'd had with Carl when he'd been there, Jesus facial expressions shifting from shocked to confused to slightly embarrassed.  
Making it all more funny for Daryl to tell the story.

”So wait, he though I should break up with Alex so I could get together with you?” Jesus asked after a while.

”Yea, looks like it.”

”But… Okay.” Jesus said, meeting the older mans eyes sheepishly.  
”How do you feel about this?” Jesus asked.

”I don't like that he meddled like that, but well…” Daryl paused, collecting enough courage to confess what he'd been wanting to tell the younger man for the past six months.  
”But I'm actually quite happy he did.”

”You are?” Jesus asked, his eyes growing even larger.

”Yeah! I've been wanting to tell you something for like forever.” Daryl said, clearing his throat before continuing.  
”I've been wanting to date you or whatever since the day I met you, but since you had Alex that wasn't possible, and I didn't want to get with you or tell you anything right after either, since that wouldn't be fair. But I'm telling you now, and I know you like me too.  
Since I kind off heard you and Alex talk in the kitchen.”

Jesus sat seemingly frozen on the couch with a stunned expansion, and as the seconds ticked by Daryl began to fear that he'd made a huge mistake.  
But then Jesus lips twitched into a huge smile and calmed him down.

”You do?” He almost shouted.

“Yeah, I do!”

“Thank god!” Jesus breathed and leaned forward and pressed his lips on Daryl's.  
The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to make Daryl breathless and weak in the knees.  
Jesus rested his forehead against Daryl's as they both catched that breaths, both of them grinning from ear to ear.

“Think we're beyond dating though.” Jesus said then.  
“Since we've already slept together.”

Daryl huffed a laugh and kissed Jesus again.  
It lasted longer that time and grew from a chastity kiss to a full blown make out session in a matter of seconds.

”I think we'll work something out.” Daryl said when they finally broke apart for air.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr! If you like, i won't make you! 
> 
> I go by Chalichi there too! :)


End file.
